Palestine: Violence must stop, Tensions mounting - Security Council Briefing | United Nations

Briefing by Lynn Hastings, Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.

The Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Lynn Hastings said, “immediate steps to reverse negative trends and to support the Palestinian people are essential. The violence must stop. The tensions that have been mounting, particularly in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, amidst continued settlement activity and settler-related violence, must be addressed.”

Briefing the Council today (26 Jul), the Deputy Special Coordinator said that for years, illegal settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has been steadily shrinking the land available to Palestinians for development and livelihoods, limiting their movement and access, and eroding the prospects for establishing a viable Palestinian State. Three hundred and ninety-nine demolitions and seizures of Palestinian-owned structures and evictions this year have left over 400 Palestinians displaced.

She noted that there is a growing sense of hopelessness among many Palestinians who see their prospects for statehood, sovereignty and a peaceful future slipping away.

The Deputy Special Coordinator also said that settler-related violence continued during the reporting period, with particularly concerning incidents in the West Bank community of Ras al-Tin.

On the night of 6 July, individuals believed to be Israeli settlers set fire to four points around the community, damaging several structures, including tents. The attack comes on the heels of additional settler attacks against the community in recent weeks, during which two residents were injured.

Hastings reiterated that “perpetrators of all acts of violence must be held accountable and brought swiftly to justice. I also reiterate that security forces must exercise maximum restraint and use lethal force only when strictly unavoidable in order to protect life.”

On 20 and 21 July, thousands of Israelis participated in a widely publicized campaign by a settler organization to establish settlement outposts across the West Bank. In advance of the campaign, Israeli Defense Minister Gantz issued a statement that such efforts “are illegal activities that the security services are preparing to thwart.” The Israel Defense Forces and Israeli police also issued similar statements. On 21 July, ISF removed the seven makeshift encampments that had been set up and evacuated the Israeli civilians from the area.

The Deputy Special Coordinator welcomed the statements and actions by the Government of Israel to prevent the establishment of new outposts. She reiterated that “all settlements are illegal under international law and remain a substantial obstacle to peace.”

On 2 July, the Palestinian Authority transferred the bullet that killed Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh to U.S. authorities to undergo forensic testing. On 4 July, following an analysis overseen by the U.S. Security Coordinator, the U.S. announced that the examiners “could not reach a definitive conclusion regarding the origin of the bullet” due to its damaged condition, Hastings said.

She added that “the U.S. also said that, after viewing the results of both Israeli and Palestinian investigations into Aqleh’s death, it had concluded that ‘gunfire from Israel Defence Forces positions was likely responsible,’ and that it “found no reason to believe that this was intentional.”

Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the UN also briefed the Council.

He said, “the fate of an entire nation cannot be held hostage by Israeli politics or the settlers’ agenda. The stakes are too high. The issue is too serious. The implications are too grave.”

Ambassador Mansour also said, “there are two tasks that cannot be deferred or delay: providing protection to the Palestinian people, and we working with the SG in this regard and his team, and preserving the two-state solution on the 1967 borders. If there is to be a different future, then this is what needs to happen in the present.”

Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan told the Security Council that “we take a century old conflict and then put it under a super microscope to analyze its most useless and insignificant aspects rather than seeing the big picture and look for real solutions to our real problems.”

Sadly, Ambassador Erdan said, “nothing noteworthy has been achieved as a result of these debates, nothing for decades.”

He also said, “Israel today doesn't even have a possible partner for negotiations as President Abbas doesn't represent all of the Palestinian society,” adding that “nevertheless, despite the heinous actions of Hamas, this Council remains silent.”

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